Treating surfaces is an activity that occupies a considerable portion of most peoples time. For example, household surfaces are regularly cleaned and polished and/or require the application of treatment or cleaning materials to the household surfaces. Also, many industrial processes, such as cleaning floors and polishing wafers, require contacting surfaces to clean the surfaces and/or apply materials to the surfaces. Likewise, there are a number of medical and/or personal hygiene activities that require treating surfaces with contact elements to treat or clean the surfaces. A particular example is oral-care, which requires very specialized treatment of a surface in cleaning teeth and gums.
There are a number of different systems and devices, both manual and electric, that are available for cleaning teeth and gums. A number of these available systems and devices are inefficient at cleaning teeth and gums and require multiple pass scrubbing with oral cleaning agents, such as tooth pastes or gels, to effectively clean the teeth and gums. Typically, toothbrushes, for example, do not efficiently apply the oral cleaning agents to the teeth and gums and can be abrasive, causing loss of healthy gum tissue and/or damage to teeth. Further, toothbrushes can require a high degree of technique and/or dexterity to be used effectively for cleaning teeth and gums.
There are also number of different systems and devices for cleaning tissues or irrigating tissues in a clinical environment. For example dentists use a water nozzle and vacuum nozzle to irrigate an oral cavity during dental procedure. While treating open wounds, either as a result of an accident or during a surgical procedure, swabs, gauze and or vacuum devices can be used. To provide sterile washing solution, typically a water source is sprayed or pored over the wound. Such systems and devices for cleaning or irrigating tissues are difficult to control and can result in splashing and dissemination of unwanted solution and/or body fluids.
What is needed is a dentition cleaning system and device that can efficiently apply oral cleaning agents to teeth and gums and that can clean teeth and gums without a high degree of technique or dexterity. Further, what is needed is a dentition cleaning system and device that is less abrasive to teeth and gums than a conventional bristle toothbrush.